Spring Season Of Love
by Starfire8001
Summary: Three kunoichi's who became best friends when they were assigned on the same mission take a vacation. SasuSaku, NejiTen, NaruHina.
1. Vacation Time!

This is my first Naruto Fanfic so tell me if you like it so that I can continue.

I don't own Naruto

Enjoy =]

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**Spring = Season Of Love**

"Tenten-chan! Tenten-chan!"

"Let me have a go Hinata."

"Okay Sakura-chan."

"Tenten GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THAT BED NOW!!!"

"Sakura-chan you don't have to be too loud."

"We're running out of time Hinata and I think she's awake now."

Tenten popped her head out of the window and glared down at the pink-haired kunoichi, "what do you think you're doing shouting like that?"

"Waiting for you," Sakura replied. "We're supposed to be at Hinata's house to help her pack. So hurry up."

"You know you can act like a real bitch sometimes," Tenten said with her hand on the frame.

"We all act like one occasionally, even the ever so sweet Hinata has her moments," Sakura smiled.

"True, true," Tenten admitted, "I was happy to see her tell of that idiot Karin for bumping into me and blaming it on me."

Sakura nudged Hinata who lowered her head in embarrassment.

"I'll be out in twenty minutes," Tenten told them disappearing back into her room.

Sakura sighed, "Let's go into that store and wait."

Hinata nodded and they walked across the street to a clothes shop.

Sakura was busy looking through the swimsuit department while Hinata had wandered off to the jewellery side; she stared at the countless necklaces unaware of someone next to her. She walked straight into that person and stumbled back, he caught both her wrists and stopped her from falling in midair; Hinata stared into the blue eyes and stood upright again.

"Are you okay?" the blue-eyed boy asked.

"Y-yeah, thank you," Hinata replied.

"No problem," he smiled, "by the way, my name's Naruto."

"H-Hinata," said Hinata.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Naruto beamed, then for some reason he leaned closer and looked straight in her eyes. Hinata had turned a deep red.

"Are you a Hyuuga by any chance?" Naruto asked.

Hinata didn't say anything at first but then soon understood the question and said yes.

"I thought so!" Naruto exclaimed, "Your eyes made me wonder."

"Are you new to Konoha?" Hinata questioned him, "I haven't seen you around."

"Actually, I came here to visit a childhood friend, she hasn't told me where we're going to meet but she said I should pack my swimsuit and that she'll call me telling me the location," Naruto explained. "Well I'd better start packing, I hope we meet again."

He walked away and left Hinata watching him leave; Sakura (who was carrying a few big shopping bags) found Hinata and saw that she was in a daze.

"Hinata? Hinata-chan? Hinata?" Sakura called, she dropped her bags and gave the heiress a hard shake. It seemed to knock her out of her trance because she lost her balance and Sakura caught her arm.  
"Are you alright?" Sakura asked.  
Hinata nodded and looked at her watch, "we'd better get back to Tenten."

_________________1 Hour Later______________

"You're all packed," Tenten declared.

"So everyone is ready?" Sakura asked. Both girls nodded.

"I can't wait," Tenten squealed, "this will be so much fun, and maybe I'll meet someone interesting in my seventeenth year."

Sakura laughed, "You've turned down every offer you got, what makes you think you'll find 'the one' where we're going?"

"I just have a feeling," Tenten blushed.

"Um Sakura-chan, my cousin is coming to Konoha for vacation and he's staying at the Hyuuga summer home," said Hinata.

"But I thought we were going to stay there," Tenten folded her arms.

"We are, the mansion is big and he doesn't talk much so you might not even notice him there," Hinata explained.

"That's fine," Sakura began, "I don't mind as long as we have a good time."

"Does everyone have their pendants?" Tenten asked.

Hinata's hand shot to her neck and she nodded when she felt a white, teardrop-shaped crystal on her golden chain with a sapphire 'H' on it.

Sakura's hand made its way to her long hair that ended a little bit after her hips (it was held in a high ponytail) and she smiled when she got hold of her white

teardrop-shaped crystal with an 'S' made out of amethyst on it. The pendant was embedded in a gold ribbon that she wound around her hair.

Tenten's hand was already on her wrist that had a gold chain and hanging on it was a crystal like the other two's with a purple tourmaline 'T' on it.

"I have to call someone," said Sakura stretching, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."  
Sakura walked out as Tenten stood up and yawned, "I have to go too Hinata, remember, we're meeting right outside the Hokage's office where my mom will be waiting."  
Hinata nodded and waved her friend off, once they were gone she slumped on her bed and sighed,_ "Neji-san probably kept his vacation a secret so that he didn't have everybody waiting on him hand and foot, I wonder how long that will last," _Hinata thought.

_____________Next Morning **(Sakura)**_______________

Sakura's emerald green eyes snapped open; she got out of bed and stripped herself of all her clothes. She grabbed her magenta coloured bathrobe and slipped it on as she walked to her bathroom. She left her bathrobe on one of the many counters that were built in and stepped into the shower, the lukewarm water splashed on her skin; relieving the headache that she acquired from her constant shouting at her blond friend the day before. She turned the knob slightly to the hotter side and felt the heat increase on her bare skin. After twenty minutes of scrubbing and rinsing, Sakura stepped out of the shower, dried herself and put on her bathrobe, then turned her attention to the mirror in front of her. She reached to the right and picked up her toothbrush and another eight minutes were used to brush her teeth. When she finally came out of her bathroom, her towel was wrapped around her wet hair and she connected her hair dryer to the socket next to her bed.  
Sakura took off her bathrobe, put on her bra and slipped into her pink and black lace briefs. Sakura stared at the countless clothes in her wardrobe and sighed, she picked out cream-colored shorts that ended just before her knees and a reddish-pink halter neck blouse. She removed her pendant/ribbon (that she hadn't taken off at night or in the shower) and placed it on her dresser, Sakura then used the hair dryer for a good ten minutes then tied her hair up again. She put on white sneakers and ran downstairs to a waiting breakfast, lagging her four suitcases behind her.  
"Good-morning sweetheart," Sakura's mother (Hatanae) called.  
Sakura had already sat down and repeated her mother's words without the 'sweetheart' bit.  
Hatanae stared at her daughters luggage and looked at her quizzically, "do you really need all those things?"  
Sakura who had a mouthful of okayu just nodded and continued eating.

_____________________**______(Tenten)___________________________**

Tenten's alarm went off and she reluctantly got out of bed, waking up was such a hassle. Tenten walked straight into the bathroom and straight out after 30 minutes, her hair was already in buns and her bracelet was still on her arm. She put on brown capris and a black shirt; the shoes she wore were black, flat and closed. Tenten made her way downstairs with her two suitcases and greeted both parents as she walked into the dining room. Her eyes glittered when she saw a small box on the table and her mother gestured for her to open it, Tenten carefully opened the package and threw her arms around both parents when she saw the new phone that they had bought her.

"I know your birthday present is two weeks late but I hope you'll accept it," said Tenten's mother (Saika.)  
Tenten eyed her mother, "are you trying to mess with me? You know I'll accept it." Tenten gave both her parents a hug again, "thank you."

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay with you and your friends?" Tenten's dad (Fumio) asked her.

"Of course I'm sure," Tenten replied sitting down.

**_______________________(Hinata)________________________**

Hinata woke up to a bright day and quickly took a shower, when she came out; she blow-dried her wet hair and put on a short white dress and black leggings.  
Her shoes were black ankle boots and her pendant dangled from her neck in the sunlight. She picked up her two suitcases and sighed, her father was sure to give her a lecture when she got down the stairs but...the sooner it started the sooner it finished. Hinata walked down the stairs and bumped into her mother (Tatsumi) that steadied her before she fell.

"Be careful," said Tatsumi then she smiled, "good-morning Hinata."

"Good-morning mother," said Hinata and Tatsumi took the cases out of her daughter's hands.

"They'll be at the door," Tatsumi told her and proceeded into another room.

Hinata had hoped that her mother would be in the same room as her when her father (Hiashi Hyuuga) started talking but that seemed unlikely since her parents hadn't been getting along recently, her mother always made her feel safe and more relaxed but when she looked in her father's eyes, all she could see was sternness and degrading. Hinata just wanted a balance in the room but the look that Tatsumi gave her when she went to keep the suitcases made her know that her mother wasn't entering the dining room again. The heiress took a deep breath and entered the same room as her father, she walked to the table and sat down opposite his chair.

Hiashi's penetrating eyes made Hinata feel inferior then he finally spoke, "Hinata, you know that you are the oldest of all your friends that are going even if just by a few months. You're the one who is to set an example for them so you have no excuse to do anything stupid. I would accompany you to make sure but I have work to do here, try not to disappoint me...if you can help it."

Hinata lowered her head at the last part.

"And tell your cousin Neji," Hiashi started, "that he can't keep secrets from me."

Hinata's eyes widened as he said the final sentence and Hiashi walked away, _"poor Neji-san, he's going to be bombarded with thousands of servants and probably security too."_

The seventeen year old heiress sighed.

__________________Hours Later__________________

All three girls stepped out of the car to look at a humongous house, the walls were smooth though bricks were used in making them and the clean-cut wooden window sills showed off their undamaged edges. A big arch door was knocked on by Tenten and was soon answered by a maid.

"Welcome Hinata-sama," said the maid, "and these must be the friends that are accompanying you?"

Hinata simply nodded and the trio walked, looked at their surroundings and groaned, servants, escorts and even security guards were frantically running around shouting a certain person's name: Neji-sama.

The three girls were able to dodge speeding workers and make their way up to a big room. Hinata opened the shoji and dropped her cases then fell onto a dark blue bed. She pointed to another shoji and this time Tenten opened it; it was another bedroom and Tenten smiled, the bed was lilac in colour and it was queen size. Sakura opened the next shoji and found a comfortable, bright pink, fluffy bed waiting. The wooden floors were lightly varnished and glistened in the peeping sunlight, Sakura opened the blinds of the white curtain and light flooded her room. She wasted no time in unpacking her things, all the clothes she brought fit into the roomy wardrobe and a marble dresser opposite the bed had enough space for her jewellery box and make-up.

There were bathrooms in the connected rooms and once they were done unpacking, the kunoichi's decided to go to the beach that was a ten minute walk away.  
Tenten told the others to leave while she changed, once she was done putting on her swimsuit then covering it with her clothes, she bumped into someone who was running along the path.

He stood up quickly and helped her up.

"NEJI-SAMA!" a voice called out. The brown haired boy's gaze quickly turned from Tenten to the stairs.

Tenten grinned and ran to the railings, "Neji Hyuuga is hiding somewhere in the kitchen!"

She heard gasps of "of course" and "he must be there" and more of "why didn't we think of that before?" Tenten spun around to see the chestnut haired boy lightly panting with his hands on his knees then spun back over the rail to giggle at hundreds of maids and guards crowding around the full kitchen. She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep in the laughter that threatened to erupt then she felt movement behind her and turned to see Neji standing straight, he looked like he was about to head out it since he had a black-and-white sling-bag on his pale arm.

"Thank you."

"No problem, it was kinda fun," Tenten rubbed the back of her neck and a smile crossed her beautiful face. "You'd better leave, if they're smart, they'll figure out that you aren't there in a matter of time."

Neji shot her a grateful glance and exited the mansion.

Sakura walked across the beach with Hinata next to her, as they were walking, people (especially males) were stealing glances at the beauties strolling past them. A blond boy with blue eyes that Hinata recognized ran up to them and gave Sakura a big hug.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, he was in blue swim trunks then turned his attention to the shy snow-eyed girl, "hey, I remember you."

Sakura turned her head from Naruto to Hinata then back again, "you two know each other?"

"Sort of," Hinata replied, "we met while you and I were waiting for Tenten."

Tenten had by now caught up to them and introduced herself to Sakura's childhood friend.

"Well, I'll be in the water," Sakura called as she left and Tenten headed straight for the ice-cream stand.

The pink-haired kunoichi took off her halter neck and shorts leaving only her pink striped bikini top and striped bikini skirt. There were a few whistles as she walked by but she just ignored them and continued to move, her gaze drifted to random people until it landed on an Uchiha. His well tanned skin had girls drooling all over him and his black eyes were simply irresistible. He had a firm six pack and raven hair fell at the sides of his face then was spiky at the back.

At first Sakura felt sorry for him because it was just plain annoying to have people following you everywhere but she saw a smug grin on his face, as if tempting a girl to hit on him and all her pity vanished.

"So arrogant," she said to herself but he heard it. The grinning Uchiha strolled over to the kunoichi who wasn't facing him and poked the back of her neck, now, if you remember correctly Sakura is a kunoichi, kunoichi's have instincts, raven-haired, arrogant shinobi's think girls are weak and underestimate them so they are bound to have their asses kicked. Sakura instantly flipped the stranger over and shot her index finger out so that it was just half a millimetre from his collarbone, many of Sasuke's fan girls gasped when they saw their idol flip over and land on his perfect back.

"Quite the violent one are we?" Sasuke smirked. "But what can a finger do against a shinobi?"

Sakura's finger lowered so that it was barely touching his skin, "you know I can kill you now."

"Really?" Sasuke asked.

"Do you really want to find out?" Sakura replied. She withdrew her hand and stepped back so that he could get up, then she started walking away but he grabbed her hand.

"What's your name?" the Uchiha asked.

"Haruno Sakura...why?" the kunoichi questioned him.

"Just because," Sasuke said standing up and walking towards her.

"Not a good enough reason," said Sakura.

"And what is?" Sasuke whispered, his body a few centimetres away.

"I'm not interested," Sakura scowled.

Sasuke walked closer, "that's a first, but I'm sure I can change your mind."

Sakura flashed a cute little smile, lifted her leg, and slammed it back down on his precious toes.

"I. Don't. Like you," Sakura stated while the pride driven Uchiha's face turned red in an effort not to scream.

Sakura pranced away, heading for a huge boulder that was 15 feet off the ground and stretched 30 feet away from the shore.

She could feel him glaring at her and she turned around to meet his pitch black stare. She just grinned cheekily and turned back knowing that she had won.

_"That one's different," _Sasuke thought.

Tenten had been lying in the sun for quite a while so she got bored and get up, stretched and searched for her two best friends.

_"Where the heck are they?"_

She spotted Hinata listening to Naruto babble about his 'dangerous' missions and saw Sakura climbing the long boulder, Tenten thought Hinata was having fun so she left her and she knew that Sakura liked it when she was on the giant rock. Her stomach made a gurgling noise that she hoped no one would notice and decided that it was lunch time.

Tenten left the beach and was heading towards the Hyuuga home until she spotted a certain brown-haired shinobi, training in a field. His byakugan was in full motion and Tenten was sure that the friend he was training with didn't have a chance. She entered the big field and sat down on the short grass; Tenten found the other man's appearance quite strange but didn't comment. He was wearing a green spandex suit and a utility belt was attached to it, his hair was bowl shaped and glossy while he had some pretty bushy eyebrows. They didn't seem to notice her presence since they continued to train and Tenten was quite surprised at the spandex wearing boy's skills, his taijutsu was very impressive and he used no ninjutsu or genjutsu against his opponent.

_"Is he being cocky?" _Tenten thought, her desire for food quickly disappeared as she watched the two spar.

Each were delivering strategic blows and both dodged most of the attacks aimed towards them, Lee always moved just out of Neji's range when he used the gentle fist and Neji would block all of Lee's attacks. The fight seemed like it was never going to end until Lee moved backwards in order to dodge a jab to the face then Neji used the "Hakke Kuusho" on him and sent Lee flying into a tree. The white-eyed shinobi took a deep breath and turned off his byakugan walked up to his comrade.

"I will win next time Neji-san for youth conquers all!" the black-haired boy shouted then he looked at Tenten who was behind Neji.

"Don't start all that power of weirdness with me, Lee," Neji noticed that his sparring friend was distracted by something and followed the direction of his gaze to find the girl he had met at his cousin's home, sitting on the grass.

Tenten found all eyes on her and stood up, she felt awkward with them staring at her but she wasn't a girl to show any insecure-ness.

Rock Lee smiled and waved as Neji walked up to her, "what are you doing here?"

"I was just about to get lunch then I noticed you two and decided to watch," Tenten replied. By now Rock Lee was next to them and beamed at her.

"My name is Rock Lee, it is nice to meet you Miss..." Lee trailed off since he didn't know what to call her.

"I'm-" Tenten paused, her throat was dry and suddenly she felt faint, on her last mission, Tenten had been injected by a rare poison while fending off attacks aimed for an injured team-mate. Once she got back to the village, Sakura (who hadn't been on the mission) started treating it and declared that the poison was supposed to get treated immediately and that Tenten might randomly get a high fever, Sakura told her to drink a lot of water and call her whenever the fever hit back because it might get too serious.

Tenten reached for her phone but it was too late, she got dizzy and could barely stand straight, it felt like her chakra was diminishing and her vision became blurred, a migraine edged its way to her brain and got worse every second. Her feet buckled under her and Tenten passed out completely. Neji caught her quickly and glanced at Lee who shook his head, not knowing what had happened to the pretty, brown-haired girl.

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Review and tell me if you liked it :D


	2. Sakura's special place

Here's my second part, I hope you like it and please review :)

Sorry I uploaded it so late but I have tons of homework every single day

I don't own Naruto

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** CHAPTER 2**

Sakura sat at the edge of the giant boulder with her legs dangling off the 15ft high rock, she looked down at the sparkling blue sea and smiled. Her head always felt clear when she there and the soft breeze that frequently passes by, makes it even better for the rosette, surfers were swimming below and she saw each of them catch a wave, then get rushed to the shore.

Someone walked towards her, he had flat silver hair that was spiky at the tips and red swim-trunks. The boy sat down right next to Sakura and his hair whistled in the light wind, the kunoichi noticed of course but didn't care, when she was on the boulder, everything melted away and left her in her own perfect world. Her eyes were closed and she imagined herself at age 3, she remembered her father with his red hair and green eyes. He always smiled and when he laughed, it boomed throughout the room he was in or just got caught in the wind and drifted to other people's ears.

To Sakura, her father's laugh was contagious, whenever he started, she would start as well and soon she would be in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. He was always in a good mood, even if he came back from a mission with bruises and cuts, his smile never disappeared and Hatanae said that Sakura got her face from him. She thought that she was the luckiest girl in the world to have a father like hers, always happy and taking care of her and her mother.

_"You're my cherry blossom," _he would always say to her every night and in return, she would give him a light peck on the cheek, a hug then run to her bed.

Sakura's little legs would carry her, as fast as they could into her room where her mother would wait for her and tuck her in bed. The kunoichi's father would soon join them in the fluffy pink room and put his arm around Hatanae who would snuggle into his chest.

_"Royku, I missed you," _Hatanae's sweet voice would echo in his ears and he hugged his wife tight. Sakura would stare at them every time it happened and she felt safer.

She missed her father, Konoha missed one of the best ninjas in the whole village and her mother missed her husband. Sakura remembered what happened, the pain she felt when it happened and the numbness that enveloped her when it was over.

"Hey, are you okay?" Two hands were placed on her shoulders and gently shook her which broke Sakura out of her trance. She looked at the concerned face staring down at her. He shook her again, a little harder but not roughly.

"I-I'm alright," Sakura finally answered, "why are you asking?"

"You're crying," he replied.

Sakura's eyes widened, she never realized that when she was thinking of he past, tears had spilled out of her eyes.

She wiped her tears and looked up at him again with a genuine smile, "I'm okay."

"That's a relief," he smiled, "it's scary to see a pretty girl start crying out of the blue."

Sakura blushed, "th-thank you?" the kunoichi wasn't sure what to say.

The purple-eyed boy simply laughed and held out his hand, "I'm Suigetsu."

Sakura took the outstretched hand and heaved herself upwards, "I'm Sakura, nice to meet you."

"So why were you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine with me, how old are you?"

"Sixteen, you?"

"Seventeen."

_**Silence**_

"What was all that with you and Sasuke?"

"Who?"

"Sasuke Uchiha, the boy with the black hair you were talking to."

"Oh him," Sakura snorted, "nothing really, he was just being annoying."

"Normally girls would go on and on about how his looks or his voice but I guess you're one of the rare sane ones," said Suigetsu.

Sakura laughed, "I'm not the type to gush about arrogant idiots like him."

"Seems like he got on your bad side," Suigetsu sat back down and Sakura did the same.

"He's too cocky, he thinks he can get any girl he wants," Sakura ranted then she instantly calmed down, "I guess that's just how some guys are."

"Some," said Suigetsu.

"SAKURA-CHAN! SAKURA-CHAN!" Hinata and Naruto called.

The green-eyed girl turned to see her friends running towards her on the narrow rock, "what is it?"

"My-my cousin ju-just" Hinata could barely talk because of her panting so Naruto who was practically built from stamina continued.

"Hinata's cousin told her that Tenten fainted," Naruto finished.

Sakura bolted up, "where?"

"Come," Naruto took Sakura's hand and they both sprinted away. Hinata sighed and followed.

Before she was completely out of sight, Sakura waved at Suigetsu who waved back.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto let Sakura run ahead so that he could wait for Hinata, the heiress quickly caught up and they set off again. Before long, they had reached the park and found one shinobi with a kunoichi in his hands and the other walking around and stroking his chin as if he was thinking about something. Sakura rushed up to him, talked to him for less than 3 seconds and nodded at his truthful answers, Tenten was then laid on the floor and Sakura placed her hands over her friend's chest. Green chakra leaked out of her hands and poured into the unconscious girl in front of her, it made a low droning noise then rose to a higher pitch. After few minutes, the sound buzzed back to the droning then disappeared altogether as the last drop of the visible green chakra was absorbed into Tenten's body.

Sakura sat on her heels patiently and her face evidently brightened when she saw the brunette's eyes flutter open.

"Tenten-chan!" Hinata cried; the weapon master's head twisted itself to the left to see a white=eyed hunter-nin with midnight blue hair, smiling at her.

Sakura stood up and stretched then looked at the setting sun and sighed, she had planned to watch the sunset on the giant rock but there was always tomorrow.

"Come on Tenten, Hinata, we have to go back now," said Sakura.

Tenten stood up and stretched then turned to the two shinobi's she had seen sparring before, "bye Lee, bye Neji."

"I hope we shall meet again Tenten-san," Lee shouted.

Neji kept quiet as usual but nodded in her direction.

"B-bye Naruto-kun," Hinata said then before she knew it, she was trapped in a soft hug.

Naruto let go of her and smiled, "bye Hinata, see you soon."

Hinata's face was a bright red and as she turned, she bumped into Sakura who was right in front of her and stumbled backwards, landing in Naruto's arms.

"Pretty clumsy," Naruto grinned and set her upright again, "hey, are you alright?"

Hinata was now a light purple and was sweating a lot.

"She's just tired," Sakura pulled Hinata's arm and started leading her back to the Hyyuga home.

Tenten waved one last time and started following them.

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I hope you liked it, please review


	3. Tenten clears her head

**I am so sorry it's late, I want to post a chapter every week but I had a terrible writer's block and homework is getting in the way :'(**

**The last chapter focused more on Sakura so this one is focusing more on Tenten, the next one is going to be more about Hinata.  
**

**I do not own Naruto...I wish I did though  
**

The three girls tumbled into the mansion and were met with more rushing maids and two 19 year old workers at the base of the stairs.

"Neji-sama needs white towels," one shouted.

"His favorite color is green so obviously, he needs green!" another argued.

"And how would you know his favorite color?"

"Because he told me...and he even said he likes me."

"He does not! You're making it up!"

"You're just jealous that I'm going to be his girlfriend, he told me yesterday."

"LIAR!"

"You're just an unloved loner."

"You're just a deceiving bitch! I know it's not true!"

"How would you know?"

"Because the last time we saw him was last year when he came over for Christmas! No one has seen him ever since he came to Konoha!"

The other girl shut up since she knew it was true and the first grinned.

"I win," the first girl said gleefully then her expression quickly changed to one of pain as an elderly maid of at least 47, grabbed both girls' ears and dragged them to the kitchen muttering something like "annoying lovestruck brats who won't do their jobs."

Hinata giggled and they all walked into their rooms.

An hour later, there was a knock on Hinata's door and it opened to reveal a woman with a huge tray in her hands.

"Hinata-sama, here's dinner for you and your guests," she started, "there's a little trouble downstairs and we don't want you to be caught in it."

The heiress nodded slightly and opened her door fully so that the maid could prop the tray on a low garnet table. Sakura and Tenten were beside it talking about their senseis.

"Try spending a day with Gai-sensei and I promise you will die from trying to count how many times 'youth' is said in a sentence."

"Oh yeah? Try Kakashi-sensei, showing up late, reading porn books, you have no idea."

"Calm down you two," Hinata started, "I bet they're both as complicated as each other."

"You're one to talk Hina-chan, you have Kurenai-sensei, one of the coolest jounins," said Sakura.

"And the only female too," Tenten added. "You have it easy Hime."

"Stop calling me that."

"But Hime suits you."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"No it doe-" Tenten stuffed a huge piece of salmon in the heiress's mouth.

"Yes it does," Tenten said waving the chopsticks in an up and down motion.

Sakura laughed and picked up her chopsticks, "calm down Hina-chan it's just a nickname, and it does suit you."

Hinata folded her arms across her chest and sat down cross-legged, she sighed and stretched.

"What's up with you?" Tenten asked.

"Nothing," Hinata replied.

"Don't try that with me, you've had something on your mind ever since we got here," said Tenten.

"Don't pester her Ten-chan, if she doesn't want to talk about it then leave her be," said Sakura.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence then Sakura and Tenten went to their rooms.

Hinata lay on her bed thinking about what her father said. Those scornful words rang in her ears until she finally (and thankfully) fell asleep.

* * *

Tenten's eyes snapped open for the fifth time, she glanced at the clock next to her bed and the glowing numbers read 2:35am. The young girl put her hands on her face and shook her head, thoughts kept penetrating her peaceful dreams and turned them into nightmares, she switched on the light that was just above the head of her bed and looked at her palms. Though they seemed soft, in truth they were hard and rough due to the countless times she had to use her weapons, courtesy of training and missions. The weapon master's thoughts went back to when she was on an S-ranked mission against a genjutsu master.

_Trapped in complete darkness and only seeing her teammates being struck down one by one. Then she saw the culprit, he had short purple hair and a wicked grin stretched across his face, "Tenten-san," he said and that was when she snapped. The ninja gear rained down from her giant scroll onto the man she had thought caused it all, but before the firstkunai hit him, his eyes turned blue, hair brown and fear written straight across his face then she knew she had made a huge mistake. The darkness all around her cleared andunconsious shinobi's lay all around her but she would discover that later because her eye's remained on that one ninja who she could clearly see was dressed injounin attire.  
__**  
**__The first kunai hit the shoulder, a shuriken followed entering his heart and a lance pierced straight through his abdomen, ending the jounin's life instantly.  
Tenten's eyes widened as he fell to the floor and she dropped to her knees._

_"Interesting." Tenten whipped her head round to see the purple haired man clapping his hands and nodding his head, tears had filled her eyes and she didn't think she had the fighting spirit to go on, not after she had just murdered her comrade._

_"__Shinobi rule #25 states that no matter what happens true shinobi must never ever show their emotions. The mission is the only priority__, isn't that right?" he asked walking towards her. Tenten could only stare as he got closer with a kunai in his hand, step by step he closed in on her, smiling at the sixteen year old in front of him. She didn't really know what happened next, all she saw was anANBU behind the enemy and sword staright through his chest before her vision faded._

"That's enough!" Tenten shouted to herself getting up, she opened the shoji door, crept past a sleeping Hinata, opened the next shoji door and found herself at the stairway. The kunoichi turned left then right when she reached the end of the corridor, turned right again then opened another door and entered a balcony. The icy wind cleared her head as she relaxed on the rails and she let her mind drift into the night.

"What are you doing out here?" A masculine voice brought her back to her senses and she turned around seeing a tall boy with long hair tied in a low ponytail wearing a white robe.

"Nothing much," she replied after some time and turned back to staring at the dark sky. "What about you?"

"I just came to clear my head...and think."

"Of what?"

"Where I'm going to hide tomorrow, how I'm going to avoid the maids and security and who's home I'll sleep in if need be."

Tenten turned to face him again and shook her head, "don't you tink life will be easier if you just reveal yourself to them?"

He just smirked and leaned on the rail beside her, "It's hard enough at home, but Hinata'a father made sure to triple it all here. I wonder how he knew I was coming for a visit."

"Who else did you tell other than Hinata?"

"A few friends, they accompanied me here as well but I don't think they know my uncle," Neji stretched and sighed.

"Seems like you have a big problem."

Neji turned to face Tenten and rubbed the back of his head, "who are you anyway_?"_

"I already told you my name."

"I mean what's your relationship with my cousin?"

"We're friends."

"Then can you talk to her for me?"

"About what?"

"About how she's acting, I know I haven't talked to her much but she seems distracted."

"Why don't you talk to her?"

"...because we've never really gotten along."

Tenten met his gaze, "but Hinata's really sweet and you don't seem...bad, so what's the problem?"

"It's this thing with our parents."

"Do you mind telling me the story?"

"I don't like talking about it."

Tenten shrugged, "I guess that's understandable."

A sudden blast of cold air blasted past and Tenten shivered.

"Are you okay?" Neji asked.

"Y-yeah I'm fine," Tenten smiled before she shivered again from another blast of cold air.

The kunoichi rubbed her hands together and suddenly tensed when she felt warm arms embrace her.

"Better?" Neji asked.

Tenten nodded her head and relaxed. They spent the next hour talking about origins, teammates and whether Neji should hide or reveal himself.

Neji soon started talking about his hyperactive blue-eyed friend and how he was the most unpredictable person when it came to doing what he was told. After a whileTenten stopped remarking on his story.

"Tenten? Tenten?" Neji called, he looked at her face to find her sleeping peacefully and he unexpectedly smiled. He lifted her up (bridal style) and was able to get toHinata's room without bumping into anything. He opened the next door and lay her down on her bed, his hand stroked her hair for a few seconds then he left feeling happy :)

**I hope you liked it, please review, I only have three and that's discouraging me.**


	4. Unexpected and unwelcome visitor

Okay let me first say I am SO sorry that I haven't updated in ages, I could tell you all the reasons but that will be a pretty long list.

Thanks to all the reviewers and people who've put my story in their favorites, I really appreciate it.

I never have and probably never will own Naruto.

* * *

"So you let Naruto in on it and I'll start find where it will be okay?"

"Okay Tenten-chan."

"Do you think you'll see him today?"

Hinata nodded, she was dressed in a yellow frilly dress and white flip-flops, "I think he'll be at the beach again."

Tenten yawned, "I hope so, we have to have everyone Sakura knows there, maybe Naruto can even bring some of his friends."

"The more the merrier," Hinata smiled and flopped onto her bed, Tenten sat on the edge and stared at the heiress.

_'Then can you talk to her for me?'_

_'...she seems distracted.'_

_**""**_**"**_**I need Sakura here to ask her, but for now I need to concentrate at the matter at hand,"**_**" **Tenten thought.**  
**  
"Then it's settled Hime, you go with Sakura to the beach again and hopefully Naruto will be there, then I'll look for the perfect area to hold it."

Hinata stood up, "she's done taking a shower, I can't hear the water anymore."  
**  
**"TENTEN! COME AND HELP ME CHOOSE WHAT TO WEAR!" Sakura screamed from her room.

Said girl stood. She walked through her room and into Sakura's where the pink-haired girl was in front of her wardrobe with nothing on.

"Help me," she whined turning towards her friend.

Tenten sighed and planted herself next to her bare friend, she looked over her countless clothes and picked out a lacy red blouse and black capris.

"There."

"Arigatou Ten-chan," Sakura flung her arms around her freind's neck.

"Okay, okay," Tenten pushed the kunoichi off her, "get dressed."

"You too," Sakura poked Tenten's purple nightgown. "Take a bath already!"

The brown haired girl shrugged and left the room, "don't wait for me when you're done."

Sakura nodded in agreement as she clipped on her bra.

Twenty minutes later, Sakura and Hinata were walking towards the beach while Tenten headed down the stairs for breakfast. Once she reached the dining room, she surprisingly saw Neji sitting down in plain sight, then she saw teenage maids gushing at him. She simply shook her head and loomed up next to him.

"So you made your choice," Tenten smiled.

"We normally say 'good-morning' when greeting others in the morning," Neji said dipping his chopsticks back in his bowl.

The young girl simply elbowed him and a grin of satisfaction appeared on her face when she received a glare from the Hyuuga.

"Don't sass me," Tenten said walking up to a high shelf. She tiptoed so that she could reach the handle and then she opened it, then she reached for a bowl at the top but that was exceeding the height her toes could get up to. The kunoichi huffed as she returned to her normal height and tried once again but failed. A hand stretched over her head and got the expensive dish the girl had desperately tried to get and handed it to her.

"I didn't need help."

"We normally say 'thank you' when someone does something nice for us."

"I told you once and I'll tell you again, don't sass me."

Neji shrugged and patted Tenten's head, "I was just doing a favour for a _**l i t t l e **_friend." He made sure he stressed the word and earned a sharp tug of his ear.

The brown haired girl tapped his cheek twice after giving him his punishment and bounded into the kitchen. Moments later she returned with her bowl filled with chicken soba soup.

She plopped down in Neji's seat, shifted his breakfast to the side and started eating. The male Hyuuga stood behind his stolen seat and sighed, "get off."

_Silence..._

"Tenten...off my seat."

_Silence..._

"Tenten..."

She ignored him and continued with her breakfast

"Tenten-"

"..."

"Off my seat."

"..."

"Silent treatment, huh?"

Tenten remained unspeaking and took a sip of her tea.

Neji's hands shot towards her sides and tickled her in an effort to put her out of her muteness. The kunoichi writhed around in her seat with her jaw clamped shut, trying not to make a noise but she reached her limit. Laughter erupted from her mouth as the sound escaped her lips and reached Neji's amused ears, he withdrew his arms and crossed them over his chest with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Hinata and Sakura walked alongside to the beach, they each spotted Naruto come out of the water and stretch. Droplets of water trickled down his tan torso, his hair carried a special glow to it (as always) and his smile was more radiant then the sun. Female bystanders were practically drooling over his amazing form and as soon as he shook his hair to rid it from remaining water, they all went hysterical (giggling, screaming etc.)

"Naruto," Sakura called. The jinchuuriki turned his head toward the kunoichi and waved while walking towards her.

"Where's Hinata?" he asked. The said girl poked her head from behind Sakura then gave a small smile and squeaked as he enveloped her in a hug. He let her go and rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay, I'll be seeing you guys," Sakura said starting towards the boulder.

"Hold on Sakura-chan, I have a friend coming. I want you to meet him," said Naruto.

The pink-haired kunoichi shrugged and sat down cross-legged, "let's play a game while we wait."

"L-like what?" Hinata asked. Sakura put a finger to her chin and looked at the sky

"How about 'I have never.' Everybody has three lives and we take turns saying something we've never done, if someone has done it then they lose a life."

"O-okay," Hinata stuttered. Naruto nodded.

"I'm first," Sakura started, "I have never been in a relationship."

Hinata smiled and Naruto did too, "I g-guess no one l-loses a l-life."

"My turn. I have never failed a mission," Naruto stated proudly.

"But of course you've goofed off on all of them," a deep voice said.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted whipping his head around to face him. There stood Sasuke Uchiha, shirtless and naturally pale with his trademark smirk plastered on his face.

"Is that anyway to introduce me to your friends?"

Naruto snorted and stood up, "this is my teammate Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Hinata and Sakura."

Hinata nodded in his direction politely and Sasuke suddenly scowled as he looked at Sakura.

Sakura on the other hand didn't even notice it, she was too busy staring at his well trimmed abdomen and chiseled abs. Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes traced over his perfect body then they landed on his face. Sasuke's pale skin complimented his obsidian eyes that stared back at her. A sudden grin from him snapped her out of her trance and she glared at his smirk, avoiding any eye contact.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"I should be asking you that jackass."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you deaf or something? Let me say it again: J-A-C-K-A-S-S," Sakura carefully pronounced each letter.

"Still as bitchy as ever I see," Sasuke said calmly.

Sakura's eyes widened considerably, "EXCUSE ME?!?!"

"Sakura-chan please calm down," Hinata stuttered.

Said girl looked at her friend and sighed then looked at Naruto, "is this the 'friend' you were talking about?"

Naruto just grinned, "yup! He can be a real teme sometimes but he's cool if you get to know him."

"Okay then...I'm leaving," Sakura hopped up and started on her way to her favorite boulder.

The three shinobi's watched the green-eyed girl prance away, her swift pink hair swayed side to side as she moved.

"Brings back memories," smiled Naruto.

"Time to work some magic," Sasuke declared following the prancing kunoichi.

Hinata took this as her chance, "N-naruto-kun, can I a-ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you kn-know when S-sakura-chan's birthday i-is?"

The jinchuuriki put a finger to his lip and slowly shook his head.

"I-it's in two d-days."

It took some time for Naruto to digest this and he suddenly screamed.

"WHAT WILL I GET HER???" Naruto turned towards the heiress, "you have to help me, I don't know what present I should give her."

"I-I was hoping th-that you could h-help me and T-tenten-chan plan a s-surprise party for h-her."

Naruto stopped clutching his hair and smiled, "that's a great idea! Who's coming?"

"W-we hoped you c-could bring over s-some of your f-friends for her to meet and w-we're inviting some f-friends from K-Konoha too."

"Yeah, but Sakura-chan has a pretty big temper and some people will just annoy her, how about I tell you about some people I know that could come over and you decide if she'll like them."

"S-sure," Hinata smiled. "But c-could you h-help me make a b-banner for the p-party?"

"Of course, she is one of my best friends, where will we make it?" Naruto asked.

"At my house, w-we should s-start now so th-that it can b-be finished i-in time."

"Okay then, lead the way."

Hinata stood up and started walking while Naruto trailed behind, suddenly, her phone started vibrating and she got it out of her pocket.

_'He's coming.' _That was all the text message said and it was from Hanabi Hyuuga. Hinata paused and stared at it, what did her sister mean? Who was the "he" she was talking about.

"Hinata-chan are you alright?" Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and stared at her pale eyes, she blushed, smiled back and nodded.

* * *

Hinata walked with Naruto in the street, her hand was wedged in his and she kept her eyes on his face as he talked about a person called Sai. Every so often she asked questions to keep the blond boy talking but in truth, her mind was wandering over the text she had gotten earlier.

* * *

"You're too smart for your own good Hime," Tenten would always say when she looked at the grade the heiress got on the monthly shinobi test.  
"Wise and beautiful," Sakura would declare and continue with compliments for the hunter-nin.

* * *

She didn't feel smart or wise at all, she didn't even know why she was fretting over a simple text like that but something about it just made her uncomfortable. Who was here and why was he so important that Hanabi had to alert her of it.

"Hinata-chan we're here," said Naruto. Said girl snapped out of her daze and smiled at him. She opened the door of the Hyuuga mansion and walked in with him.

"So do you want to do it in your room or here in the living room?" Naruto asked. Hinata suddenly tensed and Naruto looked at her.

"Are you okay?" he questioned her then followed her eyes to find similar pale ones.

Hinata stared at the piercing eyes that bore into hers, now she understood the text.

'Why...Why does he have to come when I'm enjoying myself?' the young girl thought.

"Hinata Hyuuga," the very voice of her father made her wince.'

"Welcome father," the timid girl gave him a small bow.

Hanabi sat down on the couch next to Hiashi Hyuuga and frowned at her father, he always had a way of making her sister feel uncomfortable.

"I came over here to check on you and see if you were behaving, but considering what I see," Hiashi said gesturing to Naruto, "I can see that it was wrong of me to trust you."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"You've brought a male into this house with no one to monitor you two."

"We're just-"

"You will come home immediately."

"But I'm having fun here."

"If I wasn't here when you came then you would have had enough 'fun' to become pregnant!" Hiashi told her scornfully.

"No we weren't going to do that!"

"I heard that boy in the hall."

"We were going to make a banner, that's all!"

"Do not lie to me."

"I'm not!"

"Are you raising your voice to me Hinata Hyuuga?"

The hunter-nin closed her mouth and looked to the floor.

"Excuse me, Mr Hyuuga?" Naruto looked him straight in the eye, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Have you ever heard of Haruno Sakura?"

The old man eyed Naruto suspiciously, he wore a wet shirt, cargo shorts and flip-flops. Peasant was the word that came to Hiashi's mind.

"Yes I have heard of Sakura Haruno, she seems to be a friend of my eldest daughter," he answered.

"That's correct," Naruto started, "her birthday is in two days and we are planning a surprise party for her, Hinata was going to make a banner and I came over with her to ask YOU if I could help her."

"I specifically heard you say-"

"The 'it' I was reffering to was the banner and I was only asking her so that if I did get your approval, then we would know where to work."

"And how did you know I was coming?"

"Hinata received a text indicating that you were here."

Hinata thought for a moment, she didn't tell Naruto what the text had said, or even that she had received a text, **"**_**That's right, I whispered it out loud didn't I? Is Naruto-kun's hearing that good?**_**"**

Hiashi looked Naruto up and down once again, the boy didn't look like he was lying and his blue eyes were very trusting, "I grant you permission to work with my daughter, but Hanabi will supervise the two of you."

"Thank you sir," Naruto said bowing.

"Thank you father," Hinata said mirroring Naruto's movement, her father walked out of the room and the three teens could hear him, walk up the steps. "I-I'll get the supplies."

Hinata ran into the hall and disappeared into a door.

"You're good."

Naruto turned around to see Hanabi grinning at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the way you talked to my father."

"I just told him what he wanted to hear."

"Not many people can do that when they look him in the eye."

Naruto shrugged and looked around the mansion, it was well furnished but the walls were bare, no picture at all.

"Naruto huh?"

Said boy turned to Hanabi.

"How do you know my sister?"

"A friend introduced her to me."

Hanabi nodded and started looking around, there was nothing to talk about.

"N-Naruto-kun, I h-have everything," Hinata said holding countless pails of paint, paintbrushes and a long white piece of paper.

"Let's get started then."

The next two hours were used in choosing the right colors, having a snack and talking about who was going to be invited to the party. Before they even started painting, however, Sakura walked in holding an unconscious shinobi.

"Saku-chan what's going on?" Hinata asked.

Naruto studied the shinobi's raven black hair and finally noticed who it was, "TEME! Sakura-chan what happened?"

"Help me get him upstairs first."

"NO!" Hanabi and Hinata shouted at the same time.

Sakura tilted her head to one side but quickly disregarded their outbirst when she heard a loud groan. She set the Uchiha down on the couch again and pressed two fingers to his neck, an immense amount of green chakra emitted from her hand and were quickly absorbed into his deathly pale skin.

Once the groaning stopped she slowly lifted her fingers off his neck and took a deep breath, "what's that?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked pointing to the banner and paint.

"It's...um..." Hinata began.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked knowing fully well he'd pay a heavy price if he lied to his friend.

Sakura sighed, "can you get me some tea Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi nodded and headed towards the kitchen, Sakura sat down next to her spot.

"Okay here goes..."

* * *

Please review, I promise I'll update sooner next time


	5. Hinata's feelings

**SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**** I haven't updated in so long and I am deeply and truly sorry! I promise to update quicker and I know I've said that before but I'm really determined now, I'm going to update every two weeks so that the chapters can be fairly long and I have some fight scenes planned too. I would like to say a HUGE thank you to my reviewers and to everyone who's put my story in their favourites and alerts.**

**Also, I giant thank you to Rosa-chan (RosabelletheSarcastic) for being so amazingly awesome and helping me with me new, upcoming fic. (She's an excellent writer) Please read and review.**

**-Sigh- **

**I do not own Naruto, the awesome Masashi Kishimoto does and hopefully he wasn't affected by the earthquake in Japan.**

**

* * *

  
**

**Chapter 5**

"Okay here goes..." Sakura thought for a moment then closed her eyes and started as memories flooded her mind.

* * *

_"I am walking away from Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, then soon enough I hear footsteps behind me. Considering the fact that we're on a public beach and it could be any other person walking in the same direction as me, I disregarded the possibility of it being an enemy and continued. When I reached_

_the boulder, the footsteps could still be heard but I ignored them and climbed up; I sat down at the rock's edge with my legs hanging off the cliff. My eyes were shut and my thoughts drifted back to when I had my first mission, after about thirty seconds though, a hand touched my shoulder and my eyes snapped open again. I turned around and Sasuke was standing in front of me with his ever so arrogant smirk on his face._

_"Doing yoga to calm your bitchy temper down?"_

_Just as I was about to punch his oh-so-pretty face for saying that, I sensed a flicker of chakra from him. It wasn't his normally strong one but a strange, sick, weak sort of type. The flicker suddenly flared up, just for about a second or two but in that time, Sasuke had just dropped to the floor. Black markings that had started from his neck, spread up his face and down to his arms, his hand was gripping his neck tightly and I'm ninety percent sure that I saw the mark, that looked like some sort of seal, flash a fiery orange. So being the medic I am, I checked him over to look for any injuries the mark may have caused but found none. _

_I panicked because I didn't know how the seal was affecting him, there was no trauma done to his body so it was hard to treat something that caused no physical damage. I decided to work on the source since there was no other choice and his chakra was rising and depleting at a dangerous rate, so I pumped some healing chakra into the mark and it seemed to help because he wasn't in that much pain any more. I let out more and stopped when his groaning ceased, it took a lot out of me and for a brief second, I saw a huge white snake with narrow yellow eyes. The weak chakra that I previously sensed faded away and after waiting for about twenty minutes, I concluded that he wasn't going to wake up today. Naruto wasn't anywhere on the beach so I brought him here."  
_

_

* * *

  
_

Sakura opened her eyes and took a sip of her tea (Hanabi had come back in the middle of the story.)

A long silence ensued until Naruto stood up and started leaving the room. Sakura stared straight into his eyes, instead of the normally vibrant shine that radiates off them, she found regret and pain surfacing to his baby-blue orbs.

"Naruto?" Sakura called, "tell me what's going on."

The blonde boy turned to her with an apologetic look on his face, he slowly shook and lowered his head. Sakura nodded in understanding and gave him a slight smile, it was all she could manage after seeing the depressed expression on her childhood friend's face. Naruto left without uttering a single word and Tenten entered the home at that exact moment. She walked in with a deeply pissed off expression on her face and slumped into a sitting position next to Sakura, in her hand was a rolled up scroll that she glared at mercilessly.

"Ten-chan?" Hinata started, "Tenten is there something wrong?"

Said girl lifted her eyes from the paper and glanced at Hinata, "good news or bad news?"

Hinata turned to Sakura for help.

"Good," Sakura said.

"Konoha's found the group that's supplying information on our village to the Akatsuki and they're sending a squad to wipe them out," Tenten explained.

"So what's the bad news?" Hinata asked.

"That **squad **is us."

"We're on vacation!" Sakura yelled.

"Tell Tsunade-sama that."

"I don't believe this," Sakura buried her face in her hands and shook her head, "all I wanted was three weeks away from hospital duty, missions, training and have some time to spend with my best friends but _NOOOO!!!_ The traitors just have to be found during our time-off and it's just logical that we have to eliminate them."

Hinata rubbed her pink-haired friend's back for comfort and gave her a reassuring smile, "it's not that bad, if we end the mission quickly then we might have time to come back."

"Oh how I wish you were right Hime," Tenten sighed, "the ANBU that found them followed their movements and actions for a few days. It turns out that these guys get terribly drunk in a bar every single night."

"So what?" Sakura asked but she already knew the answer and hated it.

"It's a seduction mission, read it for yourself," Tenten passed the scroll to Hinata. The heiress scanned the words on the paper and the flicker of hope in her eyes-that they would be able to return to their vacation-slowly but surely vanished. The hunter-nin handed her green-eyed friend the document and covered her ears, Tenten did the same thing and gestured for Hanabi to copy.

"WHAT???!!!" came the shrill scream from Sakura. She read over the document twice and slapped a hand to her forehead when she was done.

"What is so bad about your mission?" Hanabi questioned them.

"A week." The voice was low, harsh and coming from a green-eyed kunoichi. "The place they're residing in is a whole week away!"

"In my opinion that's not even the worst part," Tenten shrieked, "we have to dress like sluts and basically strip at the bar!"

Hinata lowered her head and shook it lightly, "it's simply appalling."

"When do we leave?" Sakura whispered.

"Tomorrow night, we have to buy those slutty outfits on the way there because this mission is urgent and must be finished quickly," Tenten replied.

"We might as well start packing," Hinata sighed, "but what do we do with him?" She pointed at Sasuke's unconscious body.

"He'll have to stay, I don't know where he lives and Naruto seemed too despondent to take him," Sakura answered.

"He can't," Hinata started. "My father is in the house and he won't be pleased at all."

"But still, there are countless guest rooms here, your dad doesn't need to know," Tenten suggested.

"Father would never go into the one at the back," Hanabi started, "you should put him there."

Sakura nodded and lifted Sasuke's limp form, she threw him over her shoulder and motioned for Hanabi to lead her to the last guest room.

* * *

"Your dad's here?" Tenten asked.

Hinata gave a simple nod and something that Tenten had never seen before, flashed across her face.

"Hime, are you okay?"

"Hm? Of course I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"What do you-?"

"Tell me the truth. What is wrong? You're...different."

"In what way?"

"Dammit, tell me the fucking truth! I'm your friend now spit out what the hell is bothering you?!" Tenten screamed.

"Nothing! I'm fine! Do you see me crying? No so leave me alone!" Hinata stood up and turned to leave.

"Don't you get how distant you're acting? Even Neji's worried."

Hinata stopped dead in her tracks, her back was turned but Tenten knew she held a shocked expression on her porcelain face.

"What?"

"You heard me; Neji asked if I could talk to you because he noticed you were 'distracted'."

"You're lying."

"Hina-chan-"

"Why would Neji-san ever care about me?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Because he hates me!" Hinata whipped her head around to meet Tenten's eyes. "I'm the reason he has no father, I'm the reason my father has no brother, I'm a disgrace to the Hyuuga family. I'm just a nuisance."

* * *

Sakura set the Uchiha down on the queen-sized bed. The room was quiet for a while so Sakura turned around, only to find Hanabi's face scrunched up in concentration.

"Hanabi what's-"

"Hinata is scaring me."

The statement was so blatant that it could never be considered a joke, and the way that it had come out so easily shocked the medic.

"What do you mean she's scaring you?"

"Ever since our mother started arguing with our father, Hinata's become more distant. I'm scared of her...and for her."

Sakura noticed the wavering of Hanabi's normally confident and strong voice.

Sakura stared at the younger girl's solemn face. "Hanabi-chan, are you okay?"

Hanabi looked up; the question had definitely surprised her, "what do you mean? I'm fine."

The pink-haired kunoichi shook her head twice, "when something happens to Hinata, you feel different, am I right?"

Hanabi mulled it over in her head for a minute then nodded.

"So what is so bad that has turned Hinata so depressed, and to make you so...frightened?"

The young Hyuuga's eyes dimmed, she took a deep breath in order to get rid of the lump in her throat and spoke, "our father wants to..."

* * *

Tenten sat on the couch watching the clock tick; Hinata had been gone for almost two hours and hadn't come back at all. It was nearing dinner time and the weapon-master was deep in thought.

_**"Responsible for his father's death, how is that possible? Even on missions Hinata is hesitant to kill."**_

Tenten ran hand through her hair, ultimately releasing one of her buns. Her eyes drifted to the single hair-band that occupied a small space on the couch, its frail form-unmoving and alone-seized all of her concentration which only served to divert her mind from what she had been thinking about. A hand stretched out and picked up the inanimate object, it twisted it over and over again until tired.

Tenten sighed and buried her head in her hands; she was so agitated she didn't even notice how much she was sweating.

"Wow."

Neji's voice reached the kunoichi's ears and she slowly brought her head up to look at him.

"What?"

"You look stressed," came his answer. The male Hyuuga switched on the lights and sat down next to her, she could tell that he had been training because of the slightly uneven breathing he housed. "Why?"

Tenten's eyes snapped up to his face, "hmm?"

"I asked why you are stressed."

"I'm just...tired."

Neji nodded thoughtfully and glanced in the brunette's direction, he noticed the absence of one of her buns thus realizing that her hair was much longer than it seemed. Tenten felt his eyes on her and swivelled her head to gaze at him, their eyes met and neither one could stop staring at each other. The weapon mistress felt her heartbeat fluctuate as she got sucked into the pale lavender eyes, she wouldn't deny that Neji was a good-looking guy, or that he was nice to talk to-but considering the past few relationships she had been in-she didn't want to risk being disappointed again.

A sudden migraine pulled Tenten away from her thoughts and she clutched her head, she felt nauseous again and slowly sank into her seat. Her hand punched in Sakura's number on the wired phone sitting on the coffee table to her right and a sigh of relief escaped her lips when Sakura picked up.

"Hello?"

"Sakura, can you come here?"

"Tenten? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"The downstairs parlour."

"What's wrong?"

"I think it's the poison aga-"

"I'll be right there."

Sakura hung up and arrived at her destination in a matter of minutes - the mansion was big after all - she lay her palm on Tenten's fore-head and let the healing energy surge into her friend. Two minutes later, she was done and Tenten felt fine.

"Thanks."

"No problem, where's Hinata? I haven't seen her ever since I left."

"I don't know."

Sakura put a finger to her lip and shook her head, "I have no clue where she would be."

"Did you ask her?" Neji's voice cut through the clear silence.

"Ask her what?" the medic inquired.

"Why she's so distracted," Tenten answered, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, after opening them she continued, "I did."

"What did she say?" The two shinobis asked simultaneously. Sakura's eyes were expectant while Neji's were...was that hope in his eyes?

"She said nothing, she didn't tell me anything then she ran off."

"But...why?" Neji's tone of voice almost resembled that of a caring brother.

"I told her that you were worried and she shouted that you hated her. Did she really...well...did she really kill your father?"

Neji was silent, unwanted memories came rushing into his mind causing frustration to bubble within him.

"Neji?"

"No, she didn't."

Tenten let out a silent breath that she had been holding, "then why did she tell me that she did?"

"You haven't heard?" Sakura asked, "I thought you knew."

"I'm missing a lot here and I don't like it."

Sakura tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear before starting, she explained the story of how Hinata as a child was almost kidnapped and her father killed the man responsible. She told Tenten how the kidnapper's village demanded the person that killed him to be executed or else they would start a war and Hiashi was ready to do so.

Neji finished up the rest by telling her how his father had taken her father's place and died instead. Tenten had been silent throughout the whole story and not once did her facial expression change, her eyes however, gave away all the feelings coursing through her body as her ears picked up the words both the shinobis said.

At the end of it all, the weapon mistress nodded grimly. She completely understood Hinata's guilt, the brunette had, had her fair share of remorse for mistaking a team-mate for an opponent. The reminder of that event made her frown even more than she was already doing.

"She really thinks you hate her, I can't be the one to ask if she's okay for you, you have to."

"Exactly," Sakura agreed straight on, nodding her head for emphasis of her point, "Hinata needs _**you**_, the person who she believes still resents her. You can't give someone else the job because she'll think you're too upset to see her. Neji Hyuuga, you _**will**_ talk to Hinata and you _**will**_patch things up with your cousin."

"Father too."

The three ninja turned around to see Hanabi in the doorway, her eyes were red and puffy which meant she had been crying, "my sister thinks our father still hates her so he has to talk to her too, right?"

Sakura nodded mutely and sat down on the armrest of the chair, she hung her head back and slowly breathed. After what seemed like a minute, she stood up and stretched, "I have to go check on the idiot in the other room, his mark flares up every forty five minutes so I have a few minutes to get there." The pink-haired kunoichi took off for the last guest room leaving three people in the room.

"I'm going to bed," Neji's tone was quiet and resigned, almost as if he was tired. His walking was slower than usual and he seemed withdrawn from the world, Tenten watched the male leave and closed her eyes.

* * *

Footsteps padded closer and closer to the weapon master, only to reveal a worried voice after they stopped.

"Tenten-chan, where's Hinata?"

"I don't know, she ran out after I tried to talk to her."

"Do you know where she might me?"

Tenten cast a glance to the smaller girl, "why are you so distraught? She's a big girl and can take care of herself."

"We have to find her!"

"She'll come home eventually, what's got you so apprehensive Hanabi?"

"S-something's coming, something really scary is coming!"

"Hanabi look at me and tell me what's going on."

"All Hyuuga's have the byakugan but we are strongest in different uses of it, Neji-san is offence, Hinata-chan is defence but I'm sensing. I know something's coming and I know she's in danger!"

Tenten stared at the female Hyuuga, she knew that she and Hinata had a strong sisterly bond but the worry in her eyes was overwhelming. "Okay, let's go find her."

They bolted out of the house, unconsciously heading straight for the beach.

* * *

Neji was tired, the training he had was intense but after hearing what the two kunoichis had to say, his mind was in turmoil. His head was on the cool surface of a pillow and his mouth was set in a straight line, he had once been bitter towards his cousin but not any more. He didn't despise her, but every time he saw her face, the angst reflecting off it sent him heading in the other direction. It was the same expression she wore when she found out that his father had died _supposedly_ because of her.

His heart suddenly sped up, adrenaline coursed through his working veins making him alert. What was he feeling? He wasn't in a fight so what was going on? His senses were reeling but quickly steadied after he concentrated. What was making him so jumpy?

_Hinata_

_Hinata_

The name echoed in his head.

_Hinata_

_Hinata_

Louder and louder

_Hinata_

_..._

_..._

_Help your cousin!_

He was out of the house in less than a minute.

* * *

**I tried to add as much as I could, there will definitely be some action in the next chappie so that you can see the girls' true power. Please review, I really will update in two weeks and if not, when I update, I'll make sure that the chapter is EXTRA free to send me a PM for anything, you may ask questions and I will always give you an answer but it may not be one you expect ;)****See you in two weeks :D **


	6. Sasuke and Hinata

I know it's short but you have to bear with me. I have tons of homework, a bad case of writer's block and I'm TIRED!!! The next chapter will probably be up in the middle of next week since this one was short but I now realize that when you write, ideas come to you when you're NOT thinking of them D: For all the people who have ideas come to them whenever they like, you are the luckiest author/authoress in the world!

I do not own Naruto. At all. I never will. Poor me.

Chapter: 6

Sakura walked into the dim room and analysed the unconscious male, his chakra pattern had steadied after seven ten-minute healing sessions in this room. The kunoichi was almost out of chakra because of the amount she had to use to stabilize a high level ninja like Sasuke, then she had to use even more to keep the thing that was torturing him at bay. The next session would completely exhaust her chakra and she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to make it upstairs to her room, but being the caring person she was, she didn't mind.

If she happened to drop on the way upstairs then she would, her priorities were centred on her patient just like they were back in Konoha. The medic studied the Uchiha carefully, he really was quite handsome and by the intensity of his chakra, he had to be strong too. Her eyes drifted back and forth against his face until he started squirming in his sleeping state, she pressed her index and middle finger to his neck again and let the proper quantity of her healing chakra flow through him.

She definitely didn't expect the sudden jolt of electricity that was sent through her veins, or the kunai that pressed onto her neck, but despite all her surprise, she was still a kunoichi. The medic had been able to build a wall of chakra in front of her heart and brain but since the speed of the electricity was so fast, she wasn't able to get to her lungs in time. Sakura took in a slow, deep breath to avoid making the injury worse. The real problem though was that she didn't have enough chakra to heal the damaged tissue in her organ; the kunoichi gazed at her attacker, his eyes were wide and he dropped the kunai in his left hand. This all happened in the span of five seconds.

Those eyes. She remembered them. The very same red eyes that fought against her father, the very same red eyes that pushed her father, the very same red eyes that watched her father fall to his death, the very same red eyes that stared into her own after it was all over, the very same red eyes that haunted her sleep but she couldn't remember once she woke up, the very same red eyes that made her forget his name, and the very same red eyes that the man in front of her had. Memories started forming, the ones that were forced to the back of her mind by a foreign source. The barrier was broken and it all came back to her. Why her father died, the person who killed him, and how they had been forgotten.

"Uchiha," it was just a faint whisper that came out of her mouth before she fell limp onto the dark-haired male.

* * *

Hinata now knew why Sakura liked the giant boulder so much. The height cleared your head and the fresh air relaxed you completely, the heiress stood at the edge and looked down below. Waves crashed against the bottom of the rock harshly then rolled back into the sea, never to be seen again. So much pressure was upon the seventeen year old that she just wanted the earth to swallow her up - a giant bird to carry her away - anything to get her away from the stresses that she faced. Sitting down and staring up at the moon, she decided that going on a mission would be good for her since she would have something to distract herself with. A seduction mission-definitely not her favorite-but dangerous enough to make her focus on it completely, no screw-ups were permitted on these kinds of tasks because of the importance they held.

_**'I wonder what drove them to betray Konoha, it's a wonderful village,' **_Hinata's eyes fixed on the sky, _**'the stars are really beautiful tonight, Sakura should try sitting here when the sun goes down.'**_

The heiress traced the shape of a particular star that seemed bigger than the others with her finger, it kept growing and growing. Then, as if on cue, a sudden ache in the back of her brain started and her byakugan activated. In no more than three seconds, she had made the necessary hand-sign and uttered a mere "kai" to end the genjutsu, leaping from her spot, she avoided the kunai which had been the 'star.'

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was a shinobi that was always **ready**. He always had his guard up, was always alert, always had some sort of weapon with him and made sure that whenver he went out, his chakra tank was at the very least, half-full. It was firstly because rogue-nins seemed to pop out of nowhere to try and win him so that they could prove their strength-they all lost of course, secondly because of the fact that he was the last Uchiha (popular with bounty hunters), and lastly because of Orochimaru. The snake-sannin tried to take control of him at random times but he had always been **ready**. So when he had followed the dashing pink-haired kunoichi to her favorite spot, he didn't think anything bad would happen and let his guard down. At first it seemed weird to him, acting like there wasn't a high bounty on his head, but watching the girl in front of him walk around as if she wasn't a kunoichi who could be targeted eased him a little bit. And that was how the famous Uchiha had not been **ready**.

He was sure that he was going to pull off his plan without a hitch, everything had gone fine so far, she hadn't even noticed him yet. He tapped her shoulder and smirked as she turned to glare at the intruder, it was all coming into place, all he had to do now was-he never got up to that part. The sharp pain in his neck was like a knife had plunged through his throat, the suddenness of the attack had temporarily stunned him but that was enough time for Orochimaru to take control of his neurons and send signals to his brain, telling it that he was in excruciating pain. He then tried to consume Sasuke's chakra with his own while the teen was immobilized, but due to the weakness of his own, it didn't work too well. The sannin kept trying however, and it seemed to be working too, every time he flared his chakra, Sasuke's weakened ever so slightly so he decided to go on. Slowly but surely, he was over-powering the prodigy's immense chakra and that scared Sasuke-until a disturbance occurred.

A warm, soothing energy infiltrated his body and forced back the snake paedophile, but in a last attempt to take over Sasuke's body, Orochimaru sent a huge wave of pain upon the shinobi to knock him out. The Uchiha had almost woken up seven times but the sannin had decided to thwart all his plans in doing just that, every time he reached the brink of consciousness, the sannin tried to take over his body until the wonderful gentle energy started flowing through him again and forced back the ex-leaf ninja. Sasuke would then fall asleep. Each. Freakin. Time.

So when Orochimaru gave up trying to come forth, and Sasuke pushed hard so that he could wake up, he felt the same chakra again and noticed it wasn't his own. This is when Sasuke Uchiha decided to become **ready** again, therefore leading to him almost electrocuting the beautiful girl who helped him and pressing a kunai to her neck. He was definitely surprised to see her, but even more surprised to see all the emotions that ran across her eyes: realization, fear, confusion, anger, remembrance and sorrow.

* * *

Okay, next chapter probably on Thursday. Hope to see you soon, sorry again if it's to short. Promise to make the next one better.


	7. Heiress in danger

I know I said I would update last week but since it was another short chapter to add to chapter six, I thought that I should make it longer. There were so many ideas swimming in my head so I decided to postpone the deadline and write more for my wonderful readers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form so no one has any right whatsoever to even try and sue me :)

* * *

**Chapter: 7**

Naruto shook his head and groaned, he wanted to forget all about it, he really did but that damn seal had to act up again. The jinchuuriki glanced out of the window and stared at the moon, his summer home was so close to the beach that he could easily see the ocean, he watched the tides go to and fro then repeating the same process. When the stars started appearing, he turned his gaze towards the sky to watch them slowly reveal themselves, first one, then two, then three more at the same time.

* * *

...............................................Silence...................................................

* * *

"What the hell am I doing? It's not as if staring at the stars is going to help me," Naruto straightened up from his comfortable position on the ledge and bounced into his kitchen. Picking up a random kunai that sat on a messy counter, he twirled round and round until it mistakenly flew off his finger - out a window and onto the beach.

Running outside, he searched desperately for the weapon, knowing that if it injured anybody and Sakura found out it was him, he would have a huge fist imprint on his face.

"Where is it?" the jinchuuriki searched frantically for the metal until he saw several glints, they weren't on the sand but above. Angling himself properly, he could see the light of the moon reflect off long lines strewn across the starry sky and wondered what they would be. Twisting himself a bit more, he saw shuriken, hundreds of them attached to the wires and ending where the wires did, at the head of the mountain about eight blocks away from the beach.

_**"This must have taken a lot of planning,"**_Naruto thought_**, "but what are they trying to accomplish?"**_

Glancing towards the sky again, he dropped his gaze to what was directly below the lines. The boulder, Sakura's special boulder that held so many memories - then he noticed a figure walking towards it: Hinata.

_**"What's she doing up there?"**_Naruto watched the slim girl sit down and but saw no more movement from then. He wanted to warn her about the danger that she was so close to, but seeing nothing happen after half an hour of observation, he relaxed. The boy rushed into his home again and back out with a soda in hand, he stared at the Hyuuga stretch and do yoga, then shake herself out and start again. Slender legs moved up and down as she did exercise after exercise, when looking at her up close, she seemed delicate and dainty, but seeing her physically training made you remember that she was a kunoichi.

It didn't surprise Naruto, he had seen the same from Sakura when she was younger. She seemed so fragile and airy but once you saw what she could really do, all those thoughts disappeared from your head. All you would be able to see was a cute little four-year-old who could execute drills using chakra perfectly because she was smart and actually listened to what her sensei told her. Now, the image of Sakura was a gorgeous young woman who is strong, charming and sweet, but doesn't take crap from anybody. Observing Hinata now, Naruto could see she wasn't just a shy pretty girl, but rather an elegant female who is graceful and flexible. Her balance was like that of a ballerina and her gruelling actions showed him she had strength, Naruto enjoyed the show for as long as it lasted, which was no less than one hour.

Sakura Haruno, Naruto realized, was a person who picked out her friends carefully. She chose kind and trustworthy companions that knew how to act around her, he had seen how easily it was for Hinata to calm down the pink-haired kunoichi and that was a job on its own. Then - he realized - she had selected a variety, Tenten was the exact opposite of Hinata. She was carefree and tomboyish, her voice wasn't soft and honey-dipped, instead it was levelled, clear and didn't have a trace of nervousness/anxiousness.

_**"She really is beautiful, "**_Naruto thought as he continued staring at the blue-haired kunoichi. After the first hour, Hinata had just stood on the edge and stared at the sea, Naruto seemed to be in a daze because he had just kept staring at her for another hour until she sat down. The sudden movement snapped the jinchuuriki out of his trance, rubbing his head, Naruto took another glance at the girl, she was moving her finger to something he couldn't see. All of a sudden she jumped and he heard the 'ting' of metal hitting rock. A wire started to fall, bringing all the shuriken with it.

"Hinata watch out!"

* * *

Sakura's head was pounding and that didn't help the fact that when she tried to breathe, her chest hurt. So because of all this, when she had fallen on Sasuke, she wasn't really unconscious, she just couldn't move because of the electricity that had charged through her. Her eyes were closed of course but never had she gotten any sleep, because just when she was getting into dreamland, her migraine came back full force.

_**"At least I'm healing,"**_Sakura mused, she had never really known before but her body had always had a little secret store of chakra in her, the one that she consciously used was placed at her centre, but her little cache was inside her heart, only to be used in extreme situations. So when her body had noticed the life threatening hole in her lungs, it had begun a healing process that she couldn't control and could only feel. But the thing that had Sakura on edge was this mysterious feeling in her gut, as if something was not right. Her inner was carefully sorting through everything in her head so that the kunoichi could find what was bothering her, the only problem was that all the memories that had been hidden from her came right back and made it harder for her inner to pinpoint the cause of her distress.

Footsteps echoed throughout the room as Sasuke paced back and forth wondering what to do with the kunoichi on the bed. All he knew was that he electrified Sakura and had no idea whatsoever about healing, the shinobi ran a hand through his black hair and groaned in frustration, never in his life had he thought he'd end up in a situation like this. Never! The rustling of bedsheets brought the Uchiha out of his befuddlement and he turned around to see a sitting Sakura, fully healed and staring at him, all he could see in her eyes was puzzlement. The pink-haired girl tucked her legs under her and faced the prodigy.

"Are you-"

"Thanks a lot jackass, that hurt."

The statement almost had him bellowing with laughter, he had been worrying over her for a good ten minutes and she just left him speechless with that comment. But Sasuke Uchiha never laughed, smirk - and a damn sexy one at that - yes, but laugh? No. Never. Not ever. Uchihas didn't laugh.

Sakura wasn't one to overreact, it seemed like she did when she was younger and Naruto had made a perverted remark, but every female would react to that. Sakura Haruno was a girl who took things at a moderate pace and that's what helped her a lot on missions, her -even though not very noticeable - patience. Her temper on the other hand was a different story completely, so all the girl wanted was a few answers to clear up her head then she would be happy. There were two outcomes possible - depending on the answers of course - number one was that she'd understand, sort through her thoughts and find what was bothering her, number two was that she'd understand, get up and rip the shinobi in front of her to shreds.

"You are Uchiha Sasuke correct?"

Nod.

"I need you to answer a few questions for me then."

* * *

Tenten and Hanabi had just reached the beach.

"Where?" Tenten asked.

"On...on..." Hanabi knitted her eyebrows together and closed her eyes, they snapped back open a moment later, "the rock! The giant rock!"

Another sprint began as they both headed towards it, Tenten let out a sigh of relief as the Hyuuga heiress came into view but Hanabi's pearl eyes (she still had her byakugan on) widened. She saw the countless shuriken and wires lined above her sister, but the kunai heading toward her was a top priority, sending a bit of chakra into her bloodline, she concentrated on the sisterly bond that she and Hinata shared until a telepathic wave was sent towards her. It worked, the wave had temporarily activated the kunoichi's byakugan, thus causing her to see the incoming weapon and dodge it in time, Hanabi smiled and closed her eyes.

The gleam of metal caught Tenten's eye, the weapon master narrowed her gaze to see a band of shuriken heading towards her friend, "Hinata watch out!"

Said girl turned in the direction of her name, Tenten grabbed the pendant from her bracelet and threw at another wire, it broke the cable and let another string of shuriken collide with the one heading for Hinata. The brunette snatched a pebble from the sandy beach, aimed, and threw with perfect accuracy and force to hit an incoming fuma shuriken. The huge weapon's course slightly diverted so that it sliced two more strings, which had their smaller shuriken jam the larger one.

"Don't move!"

Everyone turned their head towards Naruto who was running towards the boulder, "don't move an inch, there are eight more strings to the left and right that will release shuriken."

The pearl-eyed girl did as she was told and kept her view centred on Naruto, the jinchuuriki had just pulled himself to the top and took a few careful steps.

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

"H-hai Naruto-kun."

"I'll be right there, hold still."

The heiress nodded, she could get out of here by herself while avoiding everything, she did have the byakugan after all but the fact that Naruto was concerned for her well-being and wanted to help her, made the teenager too happy to think straight.

Naruto cautiously made his way around each cable, his hand outstretched for the female Hyuuga to take. Hinata lifted her arm and reached for Naruto's - until she was suddenly grabbed by the waist and whisked off the rock, her eyes widened as she and the stranger began to drop - the sand was coming up to meet them fast.

A simple transportation jutsu later and both were safely next to the kyuubi host's home. Said home's owner turned briskly to find the heiress next to a tall, lean man with a dragon-like mask, removing it from his face, he tucked a strand of his naturally white hair back into its high ponytail. By now, Naruto, Tenten and Hanabi were in front of the two, panting lightly because of the fast run.

"Who a-" Tenten was rudely interrupted by the person she was addressing.

"My name is Toriwake Kengen, heir of the Toriwake clan."

Naruto saw Hinata visibly stiffen at the mention of his name, "Are you okay Hinata-chan?"

"Sama."

"What?"

"You may only address her as Hinata-sama, 'chan' is simply disrespectful."

"I always call her that."

"That will end today."

"Who do you think you are?!"

Kengen looked Naruto up and down, his scrutinizing eyes viewed him the same way Hiashi's did, "nobility."

The jinchuuriki's jaw clenched in an effort to keep in the colorful words that threatened to erupt.

"Hinata-chan who is this jo-" the Uzumaki paused. "Hinata-chan?"

The lavender-eyed girl lifted her head from its bowed position, her eyes were glassy and the saddest smile was etched onto her face, "Kengen-san, my father is at the mansion, you ca-"

"I have some business to attend to, I know where it is so tell Hiashi-sama I'll be there in the morning."

"Of course, Kengen-san," With a nod, Kengen disappeared and left the four alone.

"Hime-" Tenten was cut off by Hanabi's sudden crying. "Hanabi-chan? What's wrong?"

Hinata walked over and put an arm around her sister, "it's okay, calm down."

The other two shinobi were beyond confused by now, "Hime, who was that guy?"

* * *

"Questions?"

A nod answered Sasuke.

"Go on then," the dark-haired male sat on the edge of the bed.

The name was on the tip of her tongue but she was almost _**afraid**_to say it. Almost, "do you know anyone by the name of Itachi Uchiha."

Sakura could already tell this was a touchy subject for the boy in front of her, the stiffening of his shoulders and the sudden tenseness of his body gave it all away.

"Why...why are you asking?"

"I'm trying to figure out a few things, so do you know anything about him?"

"He's a cold-blooded murderer who slays for the joy of it, just a sadistic killer that enjoys watching others suffer."

Sakura turned her head away once the sharingan started to form due to the fury of the ninja who harboured it.

The pink-haired kunoichi drew her legs up, wrapped her arms around her shins and scoffed, "I knew that a long time ago."

Sasuke's murderous aura disappeared at once, "what do you mean?"

"I already know he's a 'cold-blooded murderer who slays for the joy of it, just a sadistic killer that enjoys watching people suffer,'" Sakura recited, "but I want to know if you have any connection with him, if you can tell me anyone he's partnered with or something."

The Uchiha sighed, he really didn't want to talk about this.

* * *

Kengen entered the woods, "show yourselves."

Three men appeared in front of him, one spinning two shuriken on both fingers, the second untangling a long string of wire, and the third closing a case that had an assortment of weapons inside.

"Well?" The third asked.

"You've done well," Kengen said, "here is your payment." A big wad of yen sat in his open palm.

"When will we expect the rest?"

"When you interfere with her upcoming mission, oh, and don't be afraid to kill her friends. They might get in the way."

A nod signalled the end of the conversation and the three jumped back into the trees.

A smirk appeared on the Toriwake's face, "'The most wealthy man in Konoha', that title will be mine."

Neji's eyes narrowed.

* * *

So did you like it?


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